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I am sorry to say that I am dismayed and disappointed. There have been almost 80,000 views of this thread, with dozens of people asking for help and advice on visiting Israel, yet not one person has thought to ask if the Israeli posters who have been carefully and happily answering your questions are safe.

In the past week, over 800 rockets and missiles, many of which were supplied by Iran, have been fired into Israel. Missiles have been fired at Tel Aviv, and for the first time since since 1970, at Jerusalem. Air raid sirens have been sounding several times a day.

Yet this board remains quiet.

When Egyptians rose up as part of the Arab Spring movement, there were dozens and dozens of posts and threads wishing the Egyptian people luck, and hopes they were safe.

Yet this board remains quiet.

I am currently cruising solo on the Carnival Breeze transatlantic, and finding it unbearably difficult to be apart from my husband, who remains home in Israel.

To Marian, Miriam, Moti, and all of our other Israeli posters - I hope you and your families are safe.

To all of you who have posted questions and comments on this board- well...I guess I best be silent.

I haven't been on this thread for a few years but for some reason it just came through on my email. Our hearts go out to all of you. Please know we have been praying for all of you daily for peace and protection. When we were there a few years ago the heart of Israel wants peace. Know that we will continue to pray that you will be protected and be able to protect your country. So sorry things have been quite on this board. I can understand your disappointment.

Ruth – First of all, I am glad to hear that you are alright and sincerely hope everyone else is safe and unharmed. I am one of those individuals that has posted here numerous times and was concerned when I read the news. However I was not in a position to expression my concerns immediately. Also, I believe others are concerned and for some unknown reason, have not indicated so. You mentioned that your husband is in Israel. Is he, your family and others also safe? It would be nice to also hear from the others that they are safe and unharmed.

Ruth, I wasn't sure if you were checking in regularly on this thread anymore, but I have been thinking of you in recent days and wondering how you are faring. I'm so sorry to hear that you have been apart from your husband and away from Israel while all this has been going on. I'm sure you have been very worried.

I am watching the news anxiously and hoping there is still a chance that things will not escalate. I hope you and your family and all of the local posters remain safe and out of harm's way.

I am sorry to say that I am dismayed and disappointed. There have been almost 80,000 views of this thread, with dozens of people asking for help and advice on visiting Israel, yet not one person has thought to ask if the Israeli posters who have been carefully and happily answering your questions are safe.

In the past week, over 800 rockets and missiles, many of which were supplied by Iran, have been fired into Israel. Missiles have been fired at Tel Aviv, and for the first time since since 1970, at Jerusalem. Air raid sirens have been sounding several times a day.

Yet this board remains quiet.

When Egyptians rose up as part of the Arab Spring movement, there were dozens and dozens of posts and threads wishing the Egyptian people luck, and hopes they were safe.

Yet this board remains quiet.

I am currently cruising solo on the Carnival Breeze transatlantic, and finding it unbearably difficult to be apart from my husband, who remains home in Israel.

To Marian, Miriam, Moti, and all of our other Israeli posters - I hope you and your families are safe.

To all of you who have posted questions and comments on this board- well...I guess I best be silent.

Thank you all for checking in. I am glad to hear that you all are OK. Ruth, hopefully, you will be with your loved ones shortly. I wish that there was an immediate cease fire so that no one comes to harm.

Hello. I just found this thread and wanted to say that I have been to Israel (Haifa) and really enjoyed my time there. My husband has a company that he deals with there as well. I have been really worried about everyone over there. I am a Baha'i and have many friends in Haifa. My daughter also has a good friend that lives near Gaza. She is Canadian. We have been very worried about her as well. We were trying to find out how long it is from Gaza to her town. I think it starts with a B.
I really want to go back to Israel, just not sure if I will be able to but hope that everyone is safe and things improve. You all will be in my prayers.
tigercat

Since I believe that none of you reside in Haifa, I have not asked any precise questions. However, since the City of Haifa, Israel Government Tourism Office, Egged, and ILAN-Israel have been non responsive, I'm hoping that one of you can get the information we are requesting. Below is the request I have sent to the various places:

We will be arriving in Haifa on a cruise ship and would like to see some of the sites there rather than take a conventional tour to one of the nearby places. However, we do have some mobility issues. Two of us require the use of mobility scooters and the third lady has limited walking.

We would like to utilize the public transportation. Two of the bus routes (#17 and #113) we are considering are on the list of accessible buses and the third one (#32) is not. On Egged website, they indicate to call for extent of accessibility. We will not have any way to call and as a result, do not know if the buses will be accessible to us or not. Also, we do not know if Bat Galim, cable-car is accessible. We do know that the funicular (your subway) is not accessible and that changes will not be completed by the time we arrive (February 2013).

Bahai Gardens appears to be very limited for us on the scooters. If we can see a portion, we would be thrilled.

In the event that the cable car and buses are not accessible, could you please advise an economical source that could at least transport us up to Bahai Gardens?

We have found most of the cable cars in Europe to be accessible. However, there are buses that are limited to just one wheelchair space. In our case, we are limited by our battery power and even with a spare set of batteries, we have to rely on some form of transportation. We are not particular as to the type of vehicle as long as the driver can get both scooters in.

For Ashdod we are taking a tour to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea with Israel4All. They agreed to transport both scooters if we ride as seated passengers.

Thank you for the links. That is the city website I used for the on-line form request and email addresses. I will write to Access Israel.

So many of you on this thread have been so responsive and helpful I find it difficult to understand why the people that should be responding do not. It sort of makes a person feel unwelcome. We fully understand when things do not meet our needs and are willing to change or make our plans based on what is available. It is just the lack of response I find so frustrating. I did receive one email from the City of Haifa... the City Secretary forwarded my request to another department and copied it to me.

I'm sure that we will be able to see some areas of Haifa. Based on all the information available, the route we are considering is the one most likely wheelchair accessible.

So many of you on this thread have been so responsive and helpful I find it difficult to understand why the people that should be responding do not. It sort of makes a person feel unwelcome. ...

I'm sure that we will be able to see some areas of Haifa. Based on all the information available, the route we are considering is the one most likely wheelchair accessible.

Again, thanks for the link.

Betty

Betty, don't forget that the language barrier may also create delays. As you know, English is not an official language here, so (apart of the Official Office of Tourism) the actual person who have received your email (let's say in Egged) may not feel "comfortable" with answering in English - even if they know all the answers on spot and don't need additional time to find out.
In that case, your email would be forwarded to somebody who can. And then there is the matter of the weekend (Friday and Saturday).
Hopefully, you'll get more answers soon!
Have a great trip
Miriam

Yes, I fully understand language barriers. Normally I allow two or three weeks for anyplace to respond. In the case of Haifa, my first requests were sent in April and May to city and bus company. Assuming their summer months would be busy, did not send any follow-up request until late August.

I am aware that most European countries and many other countries teach English in school. Also, that they teach the “Queens” English which is a lot different than the slang we speak. If I believe there is a problem, I will use BabelFish or Google and send my request in both English and the language of the country I am writing to.

Also, if I realize some responding are having difficulties, we will spend considerable communications verifying the details. Those that I am corresponding with seem just as anxious as I to have details correct.

A couple of our best trips were with someone that did not speak any English and we did not speak their language. I will admit that we did worry a tad bit that we would be picked up at the time and place we selected. People are all over the world are wonderful.

Thanks again for the link to Access Israel. I did receive a response and apparently did stir up things in Haifa. Also, at some point in the near future, the bus company will be required to open its doors to mobility scooters. Meantime we have come with a solution that should work.

As I suspected, the cable car is accessible. We could probably get to the cable car on our own without transport, however the train is now showing a route that would make things easier. I have ask Access Israel to verify that because the train was not accessible at both stations when I checked last April.

Being able to make the complete circle should be a lovely tour. And getting to the top of the mountain should provide some beautiful views. More important, wandering around on our own allows us an opportunity to meet the locals. It does not matter how different our cultures may be, people all over are wonderful.

Hi Ruth, Miriam and the many of you living in Israel who are helping the novice travelers to your beautiful country (and I DO hope and pray it stays that way for all your citizens).

A few questions. We're arriving in Hafia on 9 August 2013 and leaving on 11 August at 11 PM. I found the trains going to Jerusalem - with a change - but cannot find a schedule. We plan to go when we dock, stay two night at Dan Panorama and come back on the 11th. (No ship tours! Too long in busses). So, if any of you can please, where can I find a schedule? Where shall we eat - good food, fairly reasonable? A reputable, English speaking tour guide? And any other hints you can give me.

A few questions. We're arriving in Hafia on 9 August 2013 and leaving on 11 August at 11 PM. I found the trains going to Jerusalem - with a change - but cannot find a schedule. We plan to go when we dock, stay two night at Dan Panorama and come back on the 11th. (No ship tours! Too long in busses). So, if any of you can please, where can I find a schedule? Where shall we eat - good food, fairly reasonable? A reputable, English speaking tour guide? And any other hints you can give me.

Lynne Coppoletta

Lynne: You can take the train all the way, but it will take you significantly less time to either (1) take the direct bus from Haifa to Jerusalem or (2) take the train from Haifa to Tel Aviv and then change to the bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.